By Chuck Colbert
Washington, D.C. – The day after the President Barack Obama delivered a rousing speech to more 3,000 LGBT supporters at the Human Rights Campaign dinner, pro-gay civil rights activists took to the streets of Washington, D.C. with a message: "Equality Across America." The message emblazoned on blue and white banners that stretched as wide as the city streets, were followed by youthful marchers chanting, "L. G. B. T. We demand equality," "Hey hey. Ho, ho. Homophobia has got to go," and "Hey O-bama, let mama marry mama."
Under nearly clear blue, sunny skies, with temperatures in the high 60s, those who gathered at the Capitol to rally heard a diversity of speakers – more than 30 LGBT elected officials and activists, black civil rights and religious leaders, comedians, performers, immigrants, artists, among others – articulate a new vision for the movement.
Speakers included "Sex in the City" star Cynthia Nixon, who played Miranda in the television series, and Judy Shepard, who became an activist against anti-gay violence after her 21-year-old son Matthew was brutally murdered in Laramie, Wyo., in October 1998 because he was gay.
The keynote speaker was Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP. His address connected the fight for gay equality with the black civil rights movement.
"Black people, of all people, should not oppose equality, and that is what marriage is all about," he told the crowd. "We have a lot of real and serious problems in this country, and same-sex marriage is not one of them. Good things don't come to those who wait, but they come to those who agitate."
All afternoon, the message to the president and members of Congress was unambiguous. No more waiting. No more excuses. Equality. Gay equality. Now.
The march comes during the 40th anniversary year of the historic Stonewall Rebellion, a flare-up between police and the patrons of a gay bar in New York City in June 1969. Patrons of the bar fought back against police harassment of gays, inspiring a tremendous growth in the LGBT community and the vigor with which it sought equal treatment under the law.
Many who trekked down Pennsylvania Avenue, past the White House and onto the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol building seemed to belong to a new generation of college-aged, 20- and 30-something young people. Many seemed to have been inspired to march by the passage of the anti-gay California Proposition 8 last November – the measure which took away marriage equality only five months after it was established.
But while a new generation of LGBT activists and allies were prime movers behind 2009 National Equality March – relying heavily on social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter to organize – activists from the Baby Boom generation also played key roles in honing the message.
"We are equal in every way," said Harvey Milk protege Cleve Jones, a longtime activist from San Francisco and a lead march organizer. "And if you believe we're equal, then it's time to act like it. Free people do not accept a prioritization of their rights and compromises. They do not accept delays. And when we hear leaders and those who represent us say, 'You must wait again,' we say, 'No, no, no longer will we wait."
Bisexual pop singer and cultural icon, Lady Gaga, who was a big hit when performing Saturday night at the Human Rights Campaign dinner, addressed marchers on Sunday, too.
"Obama, I know you are listening," she said, then pausing briefly. "Are you listening?" she screamed. "We will continue to push you and your administration to bring your words of promise to reality."
Marchers stepped off from downtown Washington, D.C., at about noon, with many – but not everyone – arriving at the Capitol rally in time for a speakers program, which began at 2 p.m. C-PSAN broadcast the march and rally live for several hours.
Crowd estimates from various sources put the number of people participating at between 100,000 and 200,000, numbers much smaller than for previous national marches, which have drawn as many as 600,000 or more.
"It would be a mistake to interpret the overall turnout of the march, arguably smaller by comparison across the five total marches the movement has thus far staged, as an indicator that the demonstration was not successful," said Amin Ghaziani, a post-doctoral fellow and lecturer at Princeton University and author of "The Dividends of Dissent: How Conflict and Culture Work in the Lesbian and Gay Marches on Washington." The book is a sociological study and historical assessment of the four previous gay marches – in 1979, 1987, 1993 and 2000.
"We need to look closely at who attended. This march makes clear that a younger generation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth has risen to continue the long struggle for equality," he explained. "The march also illustrates the more active role played by straight allies." And he suggested that, unlike in 2000, when HRC's yellow equal sign was prominent, the dominant symbol at this year's march was the rainbow flag – a symbol, he said, of a more community-based drive.
"This is just the first step," said Tanner Efinger, a march organizer who, along with others, said that gaining full equality under civil law in all 50 states requires a coordinated, sustained grassroots movement, including action teams in all 435 congressional districts to persuade elected officials to enact pro-gay legislation. The current state-by-state strategy, said march organizers, is not working, or not working fast enough.
Focusing on federal law, the right to marry and the right to serve in the military were the key goals that speakers hammered throughout the rally.
Lt. Dan Choi, an Iraqi war veteran and Arabic linguist who is fighting his discharge from the Army National Guard, told the gathering, "The right to love is worth fighting for."
